Friday, September 3, 2010

A blowout drive (part 1) – Day 9

Well I am happy to say that just as I stated…the start to this weekend didn’t disappoint (or at least it was very eventful).

When I left you guys yesterday we were headed out to Cali to pick up some furniture with a stop-over in Vegas for some yummy food and shopping. From our house to Vegas it takes about 7 hours and then from Vegas to Bako it is a little under 5 hours. We dropped the pup off at puppy camp and then headed out on the road. We had taken the Explorer due to the fact that we were picking up furniture at the rents. We had to make a stop at Walmart during our trip and decided to stop in Cedar City, UT because according to my droid it was the closest one to us.

About 11 miles from our exit the back driver’s side tire blew out. The next thing I know the car is fish-tailing back and forth. I remember looking over at Josh and trying not to freak-out. Then the back tire caught on the edge of the road and I knew the explorer was about to flip. Once we started rolling I know I should have been scared but all I could remember thinking is “Just stop, please stop”. Even in the midst of it though I felt calm because I know that God is in control of all this. Once the car finally stopped we are upside down. That’s when the fear hit, I asked Josh if he was okay and once he answered me the fear was gone. The next thing I thought was “why did I wear my favorite jeans today, I am going to be so upset if they are ruined!”.

Josh was able to unbuckle his seatbelt and and crawl out of the busted window. I unbuckled mine but I was still stuck in the seatbelt. There had been a semi-truck behind us when this all happened and luckily he was a fast thinker and was able to stop without hitting us and block the traffic behind us. He was also one of the first on-scene to help and with the use of Josh’s pocket knife that had been thrown from the car he cut me out of my seatbelt and then he helped pull me out of the car through the busted window on my side.

Josh was already sitting down on the side of the road and as soon as I saw him it dawned on me that he had blood coming down his face and the back of his head. That’s week I freaked a little. I don’t do well with seeing loved ones with injuries. They had me sit next to him and God surrounded us with many great people! One lady had an umbrella so she stood behind us and kept the sun off and when I started to faint she had me lay down on against her knees. There were also two off-duty Arizona Highway Patrol officers that were able to get on their radios and get help to us quickly. The bandaged up Josh’s head which had three pretty bad gashes.

When the EMT’s came they were very thorough and very nice. With the nature of the crash and the gashes on Josh’s head they had to take the precautions of spinal injuries and boarded us up and transported us to the hospital via ambulance. The female EMT’s were amazing and they made me happy by saying how small I was :) I know vanity! The were also laughing at me because I was really bummed that I lost my Gap coupons that I had just gotten, especially when they proceeded to cut off Josh’s favorite pair of Gap jeans (which are not cheap)! Through all these little things though I was overwhelmed by how lucky we were and how as long as I had Josh alive, nothing else mattered.

I also realized that I watch way to many doctor shows as I was freaking out about Josh really not being okay. You always see how they are fine at first but then they die, I think I was giving myself a panic attack! Once we got into the ER they checked me out and the only injury I had besides a bump on the head was some glass in my foot. They kept me under observation for a little bit and then I was discharged and allowed to go sit with the hubs. They didn’t do any x-ray’s because I could be pregnant (though I don’t think I am and more to come on that latter). While I was still in my room the took Josh to get a head CT and everything came back good. I could finally relax and believe that he was really going to be okay. The ended up giving 15 staples in the head. He was such a trooper and I am so proud of him!

He came into my room for a bit and we both realized how thankful we were that we had left the Charles at puppy camp because I really don’t think he would have survived the crash which would have crushed us both! Again we were overwhelmed with thankfulness towards God.

Okay, Since this is getting really long I am going to continue it tomorrow…but don’t worry we are both totally fine and at home now. Come back tomorrow to find out the rest!

The Grace Pursuit

The Girl behind the Words

Hi All! I'm Ashley and I love Jesus, coffee, shopping and running! I also have a crazy family with a wonderful Husband, two crazy children, one dog child and another human child on the way. Thanks to the US Air Force we live a life of moving boxes and explorations but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Why am I writing a blog about the grace pursuit you ask?? Well, In a world that has become so focused on the individual self and getting ahead I have often found myself drowning in the fear of what others think. I am using this little space on the internet to provide relief for myself and others from those thoughts, feelings and suffocation emotions and my hope is to bring to light what God has called us for and what is truly important. I am by no means perfect and I am sure you will see that all the time on this blog as I am not going to sugar coat anything! I am also not the first one to focus on this subject but I feel that the only way to change this reality in most of our lives is to talk about it and remind myself and others what it means to constantly pursue loving others, not judging and forgiveness (these things also apply to our feelings about our selves). Please join me in this pursuit and I would love to hear from you along this journey of life we will share together! Grab a hot (or iced) cup of coffee and lets start this dialog that will hopefully create a new shape to our lives.